"Looks like he is going inside..." L pointed out

"I can see that"

"Aren't you going to go after him?"

"He's fine"

I wasn't too sure if I said that to reassure them or myself but I knew he was ok, if he wasn't there would have been some kind of sign. We waited for over an hour but Shippo never emerged and people were starting to leave, it was getting dark after all. Once the place was nearly all empty I heard something, at first I thought I was imagining it until L pointed something out to me.

"What's that?" he asked

"What?"

"That near the tent, looks like some kind of... mushroom?"

"Shippo"

I didn't care at this point if they saw me jumping or not but they were his emergency mushrooms, the ones he used when in trouble I just hoped he was still alive.

"Kimiko where are you going!" L shouted

"Something's wrong" was all I said, I pulled out the ear piece and got rid of the camera and the microphone and then vanished into the tent. It was dark in here but that wasn't a problem for me, I found a back door where another of Shippo's mushroom was starting to pop out of the ground. I followed the trail away from the circus and into an abandoned area where I found a stair case that led underground.

I crept carefully down the stairs trying not to make a sound, I knew bats had good hearing and I didn't want to risk being caught. As I got closer I could hear laughing and crying, there sounded to be at least 5 children in there and if I was right that mean 2 had been lost from what we knew. I waited for my chance, I didn't know what I was waiting for but I'm sure I would know it when the time comes.

I had been waiting for about 10 minutes when I heard Shippo talking.

"Leave her alone!" he shouted

"Stay out of the way brat"

"I said don't touch her"

"Or what"

"FOX FIRE!"

"Good a time as any"

I came out of hiding just in time to see Shippo getting knocked to the ground, in this form he was limited to what he could do but I wasn't.

"HEY! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" I smirked

They turned around and faced me, there were more than I thought, at least 7 of them in this one room.

"You're the one that killed our brothers and sisters in London"

"He has to be the leader, take him out and the rest shouldn't be too much trouble"

I went to draw my sword only to realise I didn't have it, it had broken during my fight with the other bat demons and I hadn't gotten around to replacing it.

"Of course I am, now how about you let these children go and we sort this out like civil demons?"

"Your nothing but a half breed, no you're not even that, you're worse than a half breed"

"I have heard it all before, my father is a half breed and my mother was a priestess, it's not a pair that anyone agrees with, were the outcast of the world so how about we skip this and just fight?"

They all flew at me at once, I wasn't going to admit this out loud but it was just lucky that I managed to jump out of the way in time. I was hanging upside down from the roof then while they were picking themselves up I jumped over to in front of the cages.

"Wait until they are distracted then get out of here ok" I whispered to Shippo

"Everyone stay close"

All the kids shuffled towards Shippo, he was in front of them protecting them from harm but I knew like this he couldn't do too much. He was still strong sure but not strong enough to fight of one of these guys and safe them.

"It's ok Shippo; I'll take the fall for this one"

He nodded then changed back into his true form while I jumped away from the cage then lent against a wall and yawned turning their attention to me.

"And here I was thinking I would break a sweat fighting you guys, well I guess we all make mistakes right" I smirked

I knew it was a bad idea to annoy them; I could hardly take them as it was! But I had to make them focus on me so Shippo could escape and well the plan worked. While they were busy trying to kill me Shippo managed to get everyone out safely but while they were leaving up the stairs I thought I heard Shippo talking to someone and I guess the demons heard it to. Before I had a chance to stop them they were already heading Shippo's way.

"Fox magic!" he shouted

There was a puff of smoke and a huge wooden snake came into the room carrying what I thought was all of the bat demons. I stayed out of the way until the snake was gone then I stood in front of the entrance and saw everyone had left, I could relax now.

"You may have gotten the brats out but I have something that will wipe that smile from your face"

"Shippo" was the first thing I thought but my senses told me otherwise.

The leader walked out stepping on Shippo's wooden snake and pulled L into view, he wasn't looking to good but I guess I could kind of understand why after all its not every day you get to witness a demon fight.

"L" I gasped moving closer

"Come any closer and I will kill him"

"Don't you dare hurt him"

"Oh, do you care about this human?"

I stepped back a little and looked at L; I wasn't sure how much he could see after all it was a little dark down here.

"That pathetic expression of yours says everything"

"I... I can't... I won't... L..."

"What do you want?" I asked hanging my head

"I want your blood"

"Kimi don't do it!" L shouted out

"Quite fool" the leader snapped "now 'Kimi' what do you say? Your blood in exchange for his life"

"O-o-ok but not until L is free"

"Very well"

They let L go and he came straight to me, he went to say something but I moved away from him and towards the demons.

"Get out of here L"

"Why are yo..."

"I am sworn to protect human life, nothing more!" I shouted as tears welled in my eyes "now get out of here NOW!"

"I'm not leaving"

"My isn't this touching" the leader teased

"L you have to leave, they will kill you!"

"Because their demons?"

"YES! Don't you get it demons are real and they will kill you without a second thought now get out of here!"

My heart was pounding, partly out of fear for L's life but also from something else, a will to protect him. While I was fighting with L I heard the demon leader whisper something.

"Go after the kids" he whispered to the others

"L stay back"

I turned around to face them but nearly all of them were gone, I had no idea where they were so I just went to the entrance making sure that none could escape, or at least no more could anyway.

"I won't let you hurt anyone else"

"Really, you actually fell for that? Those kids are nothing to me, I can easily find more"

"What is he talking about?"

That's when I noticed L was missing, all this was just an elaborate plan to get to me, to torcher me, I understood that but the more I tried to fix it the more messed up things got.

"You know I'm getting tired of this, were not getting anywhere" I sighed "perhaps we could change our attitude and sort this out like real demons?"

"You want to fight me?" he laughed

"one on one, just you and I, if I win well you all die and if you win then you can do whatever you please, until someone else stops you that is"

"Deal"

"Don't do it!" I heard L shout

"Oh that's right, I almost forgot about him. Bring him out here; I want him to watch me kill his little girlfriend"

L was dragged out and forced to watch, I tried my best to smile for him but I had to admit -to myself at least- that I was slightly afraid, this was hardly a fair fight but a part of me knew I would be fine; I would protect L, no matter what.

Everyone surrounded us so there was no escape then before I had a chance to even think the leader was already landing a punch on my left check. It knocked me back and I landed on the floor, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and saw a small trickle of blood. Quickly hiding my concern I stood back up and threw on my over confident face.

"Is that the best you can do? Look barely even made me bleed... good thing I wasn't wearing my dress though, would have wreaked that" I laughed dusting the dirt and muck from my pants

Even though I am a good fighter I know I am useless without my sword, my only choice was to find his weakness and somehow use that to my advantage. For what felt like hours I had been dodging his attacks throwing in a few of my own -which did nothing trying- to find his weakness but there didn't seem to be one.

"Think Kimi, every demon has a weakness so what is his!"

"Getting tired little girl? Perhaps while you rest will kill this human shall i?"

I looked up and saw the demon walking over towards L, there was something about the look in his eyes that gave me an energy boost. Everything happened so fast, L kicked the demon which was a huge mistake then the demon went to kill L and I couldn't reach him in time. Energy built up inside me and wanted to burst out so I let it, I stopped trying to fight whatever this thing was whether it was good or bad I only wanted to save L.

"Blades of light!" I shouted slashing through the air

Pale pink blades flew through the air and sliced off the demon leader's arms leaving him on the floor screeching in pain.

"GET HER! GET HER YOU FOOLS!"

With this new found power I sliced my way through all the demons, I didn't kill them but they wouldn't be harming anyone any time soon.

"Ready to leave?" I asked L

He just nodded, he had fallen to the floor some time during the fight so I offered my hand he took it then we both walked back up to the surface.

"What about them?"

"Someone will come by and sort it out, don't worry about it your job is done, you saved the children and the culprits are taken care off"

My power boost was starting to wear off and I was getting extremely dizzy, I knew why, for one this was priestess power and lastly it was strong, stronger then my body is used to.

"Hey L..." I placed my hand on the wall trying to steady myself "I'm going to pass out"

That was the last thing I remember, I don't remember hitting the ground or anyone catching me I just remember smiling as my eyes closed and that's it.

The next thing I knew I was waking up on some kind of soft bed, or a couch maybe and there were people talking. As I started to stir the people stopped, I sat up rubbing my eyes then sniffed the air and realised that I was in Sesshomaru's house. I heard a door open but my eyes were still hazy from just waking so I relied on my nose and hearing to tell me who it was.

"Dad?"

"You're awake..."

"Dad what's wrong"

"I was hoping he was wrong"

"What?"

"Sesshomaru wants to talk to you"

"Oh..."

I stood up and walked pass dad, there was something he wasn't telling me but I ignored it for now. I walked down the hall way until I came to the lounge room where Sesshomaru was waiting; it was weird seeing him out of his office.

"You wanted to speak with me uncle?"

"Yes, please have a seat"

I sat down and waited for him to continue "I have been speaking with L and he told me everything"

"I didn't have a choice! They were going to kill him! And you said yourself that our job is to protect humans so..."

"Do you know what is happening in 3 days?"

"Huh, 3 days? Of course, it's when mum died"

"It's also the day the well opens"

"That's this year?"

"Yes"

"Wow, time does fly. Uncle, L won't tell anyone, I'll watch him"

"I know, L already knows everything he has become a part of our organization"

"Really? Then why am I... Sesshomaru why did you call me here?"

My stomach was tying knots and I felt my throat closing, whatever he wasn't saying it wasn't good.

"As you know the well only opens once every 15 years, last time Inuyasha, Kagome and you all left..."

He trailed of for a few seconds; I guess it was for consideration for mother; after all she died in that last time I was there.

"... This time..."

"Sesshy, are you being considerate? Its ok, I know already"

"You do? And you're ok with it"

"sure, why wouldn't I be, if dad wants to go back then that's his choice, I've known ever since he came here, there's nothing here for him without mum"

"That's fine but it's not what I was talking about"

"It's not?"

"Your father is returning that I already know but I suggest that you go with him"

"What?" I asked completely shocked

"Demons will be after you now"

"Demons are always after me!"

"You have drawn too much attention to yourself"

"So this is punishment! Don't just keep me confined oh no that's not good enough you have to send me 500 years into the past!"

"It's the best thing"

"The best thing! How is it the best thing! I have nothing there"

"I know about your powers, I know that you don't understand them and there is no one here that does but in the past there may be someone that can help you"

"Don't act like you're doing me any favours, I am not going back there, not ever"

I stormed out of the room, I went to the room where father was waiting, he knew about this, he knew what Sesshomaru was planning I was sure of it.

"You knew didn't you" I asked slamming the doors shut

"He explained it to me, yes"

"And your fine with him sending me away like that!"

"He isn't sending you away, if you want to stay then stay" he shrugged

"He's not? But he said that I should go with you"

"Did he say you had to?"

"Well... no..."

"There you go; I take it he told you I'm leaving"

"Yeah but he didn't have to dad, I knew anyway" I smiled at him

"You could come with me"

"I can't, my life is here, it always has been"

"I understand"

I was feeling slightly bad for yelling at Sesshomaru but the way he put it, well anyone could make that mistake.

"Say hi to mum for me ok?"

I left the room with intentions of apologising to Sesshomaru when I noticed L's scent, I thought he would have been long gone by now. I followed the scent to another room where he was sitting on a couch drinking sugar filled tea.

"L?"

My voice was quiet and uneasy, everything seemed different now. Would he be afraid of me? Would he hate me? Did he realise I cared for him? Did he hate me?

"Kimiko, good afternoon"

"Kimiko... I'm back to being Kimiko"

"I'm glad to see you back on your feet"

"I'm sorry if I worried you" I bowed

"Just don't do it again"

My heart skipped a beat, I looked up at him but he hadn't moved a single inch.

"I'm not going to bite, you can enter the room"

"I..."

"I'm not afraid of you either"

I sighed relived, I've never been too worried about people being afraid of me, it was a natural reaction but most things bothered me more when I'm around L.

"So you are a quarter dog demon, how does that work?"

"Quarter?... wait let me guess Jaken junior right? Stupid toad" I frowned "he couldn't have explained it to you himself; no he had to get him to do it"

"He lied?"

"No he is correct" I sighed walking in "but most of the time I get called a half demon, JJ is the only one that goes out of his way to say quarter demon"

"How can you be quar... half demon?"

"Well it starts with a full demon and a human, like dad for example. His father was a full demon but dad's mother was human so Inuyasha has both human and demon blood running through his veins but not enough human blood to be considered human and defiantly not enough to be called a full demon so he is a half breed.

"With me it's a bit more complicated. Dad is only a half demon so because of this the demons blood is even weaker in me, strong enough but still weak and then there is mum, she was a priestess... you know what a priestess is right?"

"Yes, from history"

"Yeah kind of, mum has powers, she could purify things that weren't pure... actually have you ever heard of the jewel of four soul's story?"

"Yes"

"mum was the priestess that made the final wish, but anyway because mum is a priestess that also meant there was a chance it got passed down to me to. It doesn't always happen that way but it can and well I recently discovered it has but the problem is I have demon blood in me, impure blood so my priestess blood, the pure blood is going to try and destroy the impure blood. It's like fighting an infection that isn't there"

"Sounds bad"

"Yeah it is... uncle wants me to go somewhere where I can learn to harness the power and use it in battle, and also to save me I guess"

"Away?"

"Yeah"

"How far?"

"Somewhere only dad and I can go"

"I don't..."

"You don't have to..."

"Are you going?"

"No way! I don't need someone to teach me, I'll be fine on my own. There is no way I'm leaving"

"Why not?"

"Because this is my home, I have my friends here"

"Can't you visit?"

"In another 15 years sure"

"That's"

"Not that long for a demon but for humans... well it doesn't matter I'm not going"

"Because of your friends?"

"Of course, I can't leave you guys, who knows what trouble you will all get into"

"Shippo is a demon, your other friend seemed well protected and I don't believe I have heard about any other of your friends"

"You missed out one... you"

"Were not friends"

My ears flattened, I guess I should have seen it coming.

"Were partners"

"What?"

I couldn't believe my ears, all this time he has been stating that were not partners and now, even after everything he is saying we are.

"Really?"

"Yes"

Even though I was extremely happy I couldn't smile.

"What's wrong?"

"I've been waiting for you to say that and now... well it just seems so pointless now"

"Pointless?"

"I think... I think I'm... you see I'm leaving"

"Leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm going to go train, I'm going to become stronger"

"But you said"

"I know but I want to be able to protect the people I care about... I want to be able to protect you L" I said with a small blush showing

"Me?"

"I know 15 years is a long time but I will come back and besides you will only be 34"

"I'm 23"

"Huh... really? You look younger"

"I could say the same to you"

"I guess so" I laughed "so then you would be 38 then"

"That's right"

"Human life is so short but still, it will be worth it to be able to protect you"

"Protect me from what?"

"From demons of course"

"Demons?" he sounded a little worried

"Of course, if you're going to be my partner then you're going to face demons at some point so I need to be able to protect you"

"I'll hold you to that"

"So you'll wait for me then?"

"Yes"